What an uneven battle! Thomas Blamey, the little guy, rural-bred, rough, rumbunctious, distrusted; Douglas MacArthur, nobly bred, imperious, destined for greatness, the darling of his own heart. Roland Perry shows the true picture. MacArthur (1880-1964) was a scheming, narcissistic, lying braggard and manipulator. Blamey (1884-1951) fought to keep his Australians from fighting with the Americans, and tried, often with little effect, to influence his prime minister to act in the interests of the Australian troops and the Australian people, while displaying worrying moral failures of his own.

This is not a pretty story. In the background is a brutal war in which thousands of worthy troops, loyally believing in their respective leaders, died. The death rate at Buna and Gona, on Papua’s north coast, was vastly greater than it needed to be. The Australians lost 3,471 casualties in the long campaign, of whom 1,208 were killed. This tragedy occurred because of MacArthur’s determination to return as conqueror of the Philippines as soon as possible.